Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that his administration is close to providing recommendations on whether Americans should don face masks to ward off the coronavirus, but said that whatever guidance is offered wouldn’t be mandatory.

“They’re going to be coming out with regulations on that. If people want to abide them frankly — I don’t think they’ll be mandatory because some people don’t want to do that,” Trump said during a lengthy White House news conference. “If people wanted to wear them, they can. If people wanted to use scarves they can.”

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. government has said masks are not needed for the general public — and they have encouraged businesses with large stockpiles of masks to donate them to hospitals and other medical facilities. But administration officials have signaled in recent days they are reconsidering.

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

In an interview on "Good Morning America" this week, Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was asked to review its guidance on wearing masks.

“We’ve learned there’s a fair amount of asymptomatic spread, and so we’ve asked the CDC to take another look at whether or not having more people wear masks will prevent transmission of the disease to other people,” Adams said.

Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, expressed concerned about issuing a mask edict, saying the government doesn't want to give people the idea that masks are a "substitute" for the social distancing guidelines.

"The most important thing is the social distancing and washing your hands," she said. "And we don’t want people to get an artificial sense of protection because they’re behind a mask. Because if they’re touching things—remember your eyes are not in the mask -- so if you’re touching things and then touching your eyes you're exposing yourself in the same way."

A "false sense of security."

"This worries us, and that’s why the debate is continuing about the mask," she added.